What causes violence in schools? Dems say access to guns, Republicans blame a lack of religion

Ever since the Columbine massacre rocked the nation nearly 20 years ago, the nation’s parents and teachers have been trying to determine the factors that lead to school violence. A new survey shows that while 51 percent of Americans agree that a troubled home life can cause students to lash out, there is also a huge difference of opinion among different ages, ethnic groups and political affiliations about what other issues may be to blame.

The survey was conducted by Barna Group, which bills itself as a “leading research organization focused on the intersection of faith and culture.” As such, the firm asked nearly 1,300 adults from across the country how much lack of religion (prayer, religious instruction) in schools might impact school violence. Only 20 percent of all adults felt the lack of religion was a contributing factor, but that number went to 34 percent for those who identified as “practicing Christians” and 58 percent for Evangelicals. Also, 31 percent of Republicans blamed lack of religion, compared to 21 percent of Independents and 13 percent of Democrats.

Democrats were much more likely to point to easy access to guns as a problem, with 55 percent choosing that factor as a source of school violence, compared to 30 percent of Independents and 28 percent of Republicans. Nearly 50 percent of both Democrats and Independents thought that undiagnosed or untreated mental illness was a contributing factor, compared to only 35 percent of Republicans.

Age also played a role in survey responses, with older Americans much more likely to point to violence in video games (43 percent) and television (33 percent) as causes of school violence. Race and ethnicity also factored in. Black adults overwhelmingly pointed to access to guns (54 percent) or untreated mental health problems (48 percent) as concerns, while whites saw these as issues less often (38 percent and 45 percent, respectively).

Asian and Hispanic respondents put even less blame on these factors, with only 29 percent of Asians pointing to untreated mental illness as a cause of school violence. This group was also the most likely to believe that the lack of armed school guards was a contributing factor; 18 percent picked this as a cause, compared to an overall average of 7 percent.

Emily Landes has a six-year-old, a toddler and a pretty severe sleep deficit.